The Nation of Israel

[Dave]

Our society today is full of end times predictions both Biblical and Secular. If 12/21/2012 and the Mayan Calendar don’t get us, then we are certainly of the generation that has seen the fig tree bloom.

Question – dose anyone have the guts to answer this question?

Why is the blooming fig tree equate to the rebirth of Israel as a nation – and – does the nation of Israel have a Biblical right to the land?

Attachments:

[Dave]

The Fig Tree Prophecy of Matthew 24
How The Rebirth of Israel Signals The Last Days
www.nowtheendbegins.com/pages/the_fig_tree_prophecy.htm

“Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously." Isaiah 24:23. There is only one people that are God's "chosen people", and they are the Jews. "And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people." Isaiah 51:16. And there is one main event in bible prophecy that had to happen to usher in the time that the bible calls the "Last Days", or the "time of Jacob's trouble", and that event happened on May 14, 1948.

This is what's known as the Fig Tree Prophecy.

"Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer [is] nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, [even] at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." Matthew 24:32-34

So what or who is the "fig tree"? It would seem that if we could figure that out, then we would know who the last generation might be.

Throughout recorded history, nations have always be typified by "types and figures" to describe them. Russia is the "bear", America is the "eagle", England the "lion", and Israel the "fig tree". Wait...did I just say "fig tree"? Wow, what a coincidence!

So Jesus was saying that when you see ISRAEL re-blooming, whenever that would take place, that that generation would be the one that would be on the earth and living when the Last Days would occur.

This is the general mythology that places the 1948 rebirth of Israel as a nation as the beginning of the countdown clock for the end-times, as spelled out in the Book of Revelations.

The more and more I study this, the more and more I disagree with almost everything stated in this article – anyone willing to stand up for this article or its content?

Attachments:

[Dave]

“Now learn a Parable of the ‘FIG‐TREE.’ When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth LEAVES, ye know that summer is nigh: so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it (He, R.V.), is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This GENERATION (the word means ‘Race’—JEWISH RACE) shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Mat 24:32-35.

"Verily I say unto you, this generation (genea, not genos) shall not pass, till all be fulfilled."

www.preteristarchive.com/StudyArchive/t/theory_generation=race.html

I found this argument on the internet. If the fig tree equates to the Nation of Israel, then when the fig tree blooms, the race of Israel shall not perish until these things happen.

Let’s look at the Greek:
Mat 24:34 αμην λεγω υμιν Aοτι ου μη παρελθη η γενεα αυτη εως αν παντα ταυτα γενηται

This web-site is correct. The word used is ‘γενεα’ (genea) – let’s do a word study.

- γενεα – genea - Strong's Number: 1074, from (a presumed derivative of) (1085)
Definition - fathered, birth, nativity, that which has been begotten, men of the same stock, a family, the several ranks of natural descent, the successive members of a genealogy,
Word Usage - Total: 43 – generation (32 times), generations (10 times), kind (once)

Now let’s look at ‘genos’ – gevnoß - Strong's Number: 1085
Definition – kindred, offspring, family, stock, tribe, nation, i.e. nationality or descent from a particular people, the aggregate of many individuals of the same nature, kind, sort
Word Usage - Total: 21, kind (5 times), kindred (3 times), offspring (3 times), nation (2 times), stock (2 times), born (2 times), diversity (once)

As for me, my opinion is that this web-site has it backwards. Genea is never used to mean a Nation, or race of people; but rather the successive members of a genealogy While genos is translated to mean: stock, tribe, nation, or nationality.

Greek lexicon based on Thayer's and Smith's Bible Dictionary plus others; this is keyed to the large Kittel and the "Theological Dictionary of the New Testament." These files are public domain.

[Dave]

How long is a Biblical generation and when can we expect the Biblical end-times?

Let’s pretend for a moment that the fig tree really does represent the rebirth of the nation of Israel. “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” So, just how long is a generation?

I remember all the fuss about 1988 being the beginnings of the end-times. Why?

A generation as 40 years - Forty years is mentioned in the Bible forty times.

Numbers 32:13 And the LORD'S anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed.

Psalms 95:10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:

Heb 3:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. 10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.

The fig tree bloomed; Israel became a Nation in 1948 + 40 years = 1988 – Oops the math was wrong.

A generation might possibly be 90-100 years

Psa 90:10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

1948 + 90/100 years = 2038-2048 – This mathematical reference either puts off the end-time scenario for a few more years, or means that the hardships of the end-times saga are longer lived.

Although, with having to guess at what scripture means, or which metaphor applies, we could just rely on the very words of God when he tells Noah after the Flood that:

Genesis 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

So, 1948 + 120 = 2068 – Well, that makes the wicked feel more comfortable – unless –

From: www.vriendenvanisrael.nl/?p=1600
A THING IS CONFIRMED BY 2 OR MORE WITNESSES (NUMBER OF ACTION IS 3)GOD’S

THE BALFOUR DECLARATION IN 1917. (First Official Act to Give the Jew the right of return to the land). 1917 + 40 year generation = 1957. This scenario will not work because the time has expired for the tribulation and the Second Coming to occur. 1917 + 50 year generation = 1967. This scenario won’t work for the same reasons. 1917 + 70 year generation = 1987. This scenario won’t work also for the same reasons. 1917 + 100 year generation = 2017. This scenario is a possibility with the tribulation beginning in 2017 and the second coming in 2038.
1947/8 REBIRTH OF ISRAEL AS A NATION 1948 + 40 year generation = 1988. That does not work because the time has expired for the tribulation and the Second Coming to occur. 1948 + 50 year generation = 1998. Also doesn’t work for the same reasons.
1947/8 + 70 year generation=2017/8. This scenario is a possibility with the tribulation beginning in 2017/8 and the Second Coming in 2038.
1948 + 100 year generation = 2048. This scenario is a possibility with the tribulation beginning in 2027.
1967 RECAPTURED OF JERUSALEM 1967 + 50 year generation = 2017. This is a possibility with the tribulation beginning in 2017 and the second coming in 2038.
1967 + 70 year generation = 2037. This is a possibility with the tribulation beginning in 2016 and the Second Coming in 2037.
1967 + 100 year generation = 2067. This is a possibilty with the tribulation beginning in 2046 and the Second Coming in 2067.
From these calculations, we have the earliest period for the completion of the END GENERATION in 2017/18 and the longest period ending in 2067. There are three time sequences from the above that are rather interesting. Look at the time periods marked by the asterisk. Using the birth day of the nation Israel in 1947/8, the recapture of Jerusalem in 1967, and the issuing of the Balfour Declaration in 1917, notice that the 50 for Jubilee – Release, the 70 for prophecy complete, and the 100 associated with the right of the Jew to return to their homeland all begin at approximately the same time period – 2017/8 with the tribulation.

However – all of this is based upon the Nation of Israel being the fig tree of Mathew 24!Again I ask, is this a correct assumption? Does the fig blooming really mean the rebirth of Israel as a Nation?

[Dave]

Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri

Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri was not your ordinary modern day Jewish Rabbi. He was a kabbalhist had gained notoriety around the world for issuing apocalyptic warnings and for saying he personally met the long-awaited Jewish Messiah in November 2003.

The Kabbalah is an independent text, found within the Midrash. Kabbalists hold that not only are the words giving a divine message, but indicate a far greater message that extends beyond them. Thus they hold that even as small a mark as the Hebrew letter yod (י), the smallest letter, or decorative markings, or repeated words, were put there by God to teach scores of lessons.

Kabbalhist are metaphysical mystics. Not only are they experts in the practice of Jewish magic, but claim modern prophetic abilities. Shortly after what Kaduri characterized as his Nov. 4, 2003, encounter with the Messiah, in which he said he learned his name, the rabbi began warning of impending disasters worldwide. In September 2005 in a class at his Jerusalem yeshiva seminary, Kaduri called for Jews all over the world to return to Israel because of the calamities about to befall the Earth and for the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple.

A few months before his death, Kaduri gave a Yom Kippur address in which he gave clues as to how to recognize the Messiah. He told those gathered for the Day of Atonement in his synagogue the Messiah would not come until former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon dies.

Evidently Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri was taken very seriously by the Jews. When he died in February 2006, somewhere between the age of 106 to possibly 117, 300,000 attended his funeral in Jerusalem.

Let me remind you that Ariel Sharon was a commander in the Israeli Army from its inception in 1948 and lead the Israeli Army to its 1948 and 1967 victories that reclaimed Palestine for the Jews. Sharon Ariel nickname was Israel’s ‘Lion of God’ and served in a number of ministerial posts in Likud-led governments in 1977–92 and 1996–99. He became the leader of the Likud in 2000, and served as Israel’s Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006.

While in office, Jan. 4, 2006, the 84-year-old suffered a devastating stroke and a brain hemorrhage he became ill went into a coma. Everyone expected his imminent death, but he remains in a come to this very day.

'Significant brain activity' in comatose Ariel Sharon
By Ashley Fantz and Jethro Mullen, CNN
updated 6:42 PM EST, Mon January 28, 2013

He was presumed to be in a vegetative state. But on Monday, a team of surprised neuroscientists and doctors said Sharon's brain appeared to respond when they showed him pictures of his family and had him listen to his son's voice. Doctors also used tactile stimuli to measure Sharon's reaction.

The Messiah will not return until after Ariel Sharon dies, but just what does after mean? The next day? The next year? Or perhaps a 100 years?


www.cnn.com/2013/01/28/world/meast/israel-sharon-brain-activity
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_Sharon
www.wnd.com/2007/05/41669/#bcMyiH8pfZEGWbmQ.99

[Dave]

From: www.preservedwords.com/disptruth/chap29-pv.htm

These three trees are particularly fit symbols of Israel, for in Palestine the “Vine,” the “Fig‐tree,” and the “Olive,” stand for the fruitfulness of the land. And the “Vine” and “Fig‐tree” prefigure the Millennial days when every man shall sit under his own “Vine” and “Fig‐tree.” Micah 4:3-4.

THE VINE is a symbol of Israel’s Spiritual privileges.

THE FIG‐TREE is a symbol of Israel’s National privileges.

THE OLIVE TREE is a symbol of Israel’s Religious privileges.

The “Fig‐tree” is a New Testament symbol or figure of Israel and was used by Jesus Himself. As Jesus sat upon the Mount of Olives, on the ‘Tuesday evening preceding His Crucifixion, His Disciples came to Him and asked a threefold question—“Tell us, when shall these things be (the destruction of the Temple)? and what shall be the SIGN of Thy Coming, and of the end of the world (Age)?” Mat 24:3. These three questions Jesus answered in His “Olivet Discourse” which followed. In His answer to the question—“What shall be the SIGN of Thy Coming?” Jesus mentioned three signs.

The appearance of the “ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION” (the “DESOLATOR”—Antichrist), spoken of by Daniel the prophet (Dan 9:27) in the Holy Place of the rebuilt Temple at Jerusalem, as foretold by Paul in his Second Letter to the Thessalonians. 2Th 2:1-4.

The “SIGN OF THE SON OF MAN,” which is a “CLOUD,” such as He disappeared in when He ascended. Acts 1:9; Mat 24:30.

The “FIG‐TREE SIGN,” or the re‐gathering of the Jews back to their own land. In connection with this “Sign” Jesus said—

“Now learn a Parable of the ‘FIG‐TREE.’ When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth LEAVES, ye know that summer is nigh: so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it (He, R.V.), is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This GENERATION shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Mat 24:32-35.

The “Fig‐tree” is a fit emblem of Israel. Its peculiarity is that the blossoms of the fruit appear before the leaves. Naturally, therefore, we should look for fruit on a tree in full leaf. This accounts for why Jesus cursed the Fig‐tree that had on it nothing but leaves. Mat 21:18-20. The presence of the leaves led Him to expect fruit, and when He found none He cursed the tree for its fruitlessness. Mark gives us another version of the incident. Mark 11:12-14. He says that Jesus found nothing but leaves, “for the time of figs was NOT YET.”

The application of this incident to Israel is simple. Naturally Jesus from their “leafy profession” would expect to find fruit on the tree of their National life, and when He found none He cursed them for their HYPOCRISY. Mat 23:1-33.

OK – This all sounds religious enough. The fruit of the Fig Tree is not governmental fruit of the nation – like: new states, new territory, power, strength in the world community, prestige; - but rather spiritual fruit. Meaning that people grew in the faith and actually “got it” – people like Nathan, Isaiah, King David, King Solomon. Instead the nation of Israel had only produced Pharisees, Sadducees, money changers at the gates to the Temple, and King Herod that just killed all the male children, under the age of two, at the time of the birth of Jesus to protect his own hold on power.

The Parable of the “Barren Fig‐tree

In the Parable of the “Barren Fig‐tree” (Luke 13:6-9) we have another picture of Israel. The “Fig‐tree” is the Jewish nation. The “Fig‐tree” was planted in a “Vineyard,” which we have seen stands for the land of Palestine. The owner of the Vineyard and of the Fig‐tree was God. He came in the person of His Son Jesus, and for three years of Jesus’ ministry He had sought for fruit from the Jewish nation and found none. He therefore decided to cut down the tree, that is, remove the nation from the Vineyard.

But the tree was not destroyed immediately, for intercession was made for it, and the day of grace was lengthened out for forty years, and then the “axe‐man” Titus, at the head of the Roman Army besieged Jerusalem in A.D. 70, and Israel, the Fig‐tree, was cut down and cast out of the Vineyard into the field of the world.

But while the “Fig‐tree” (Israel) was cut down and cast out of the “Vineyard” (Palestine), its root was not destroyed, the axe was only laid at the root of the “Tree” (Luke 3:7-9), the root itself was not killed or removed from the soil. It is clear then from the “Parable of the Fig‐tree,” (Mat 24:32-34), that a new tree will spring from the root, that is, the nation of Israel will revive, and when it shall reach the point where it shall “put forth leaves” then we shall have the “FIG‐TREE SIGN” that Christ’s return is not far away.

OK – I agree so far. Christ, the true Messiah came and went. The Old Testament was fulfilled. A new covenant was made. The role of Israel as a nation is complete.

Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Rom 4:13 For not through the law was the promise to Abraham or to his seed that he should be heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith.

Gal 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ. 28 There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for ye all are one man in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye are Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, heirs according to promise.

Now here comes the traditional mistake:

The “Signs of the Times” clearly point to the revival of the “Fig‐tree;” and in “ZIONISM” and “ANTI‐SEMITISM” we see the “putting forth of leaves.” “ZIONISM” is the longing of the Jews to return to their own land and the establishment of a “Jewish State” there. There are three phases of it, “Religious,” “Economic,” and “Political” Zionism. The “Religious” phase is the revival of faith in the fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecies of the restoration of Jewish worship in a rebuilt Temple in the Holy Land. The “Economic” phase is the desire of Israel to escape from their condition of servitude in Russia, and other lands where they are persecuted, and by Colonization in Palestine secure a home in the land associated with the most sacred memories of their race, where they can dwell safely under their own vine and fig‐tree. The “Political” phase is the revival of their “national Hope” of a restored nation under the leadership of the promised and long‐hoped‐for Messiah.

This can only be true if the Jesus was not the true messiah Christ fulfilled all those promises and established Christianity. No longer does it have anything to do with Zionism, politics, economics, or a Jewish State!

Re-examine the opening paragraph:

These three trees are particularly fit symbols of Israel, for in Palestine the “Vine,” the “Fig‐tree,” and the “Olive,” stand for the fruitfulness of the land. And the “Vine” and “Fig‐tree” prefigure the Millennial days when every man shall sit under his own “Vine” and “Fig‐tree.” Micah 4:3-4.

… when every man shall sit under his own “Vine” and “Fig‐tree.”

Attachments:

[Richard]

The Messiah will not return until after Ariel Sharon dies, but just what does after mean? The next day? The next year? Or perhaps a 100 years?


Israel's ex-PM Ariel Sharon dies
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-25696601

"The head of the Sheba Medical Centre near Tel Aviv said Mr Sharon had died on Saturday afternoon of heart failure.

President Shimon Peres said he had built Israel but a senior Palestinian said his path was war and aggression.

Journalists have been camped out at this hospital in central Israel since the start of the month when doctors indicated that the health of the former prime minister had deteriorated.

His family - including his two sons, Gilad and Omri - has been here at his bedside and police tried to keep photographers away from them.

After regular news updates in which we were told the 85-year-old was "fighting like a lion", the hospital spokesman called an unexpected briefing at lunch-time on Shabbat - the Jewish Sabbath - when much of the country is closed down. He announced that Mr Sharon had "departed peacefully".

The former leader was cared for here for most of the past eight years - during which time he was considered to be in a state of minimal consciousness.

His body has now been removed from the hospital. A ministerial committee is deciding on plans for him to lie in state before he is buried at his ranch in the Negev.

Mr Peres, who joined a unity government with Mr Sharon in 2001, said he was "an exceptional man and an exceptional commander who moved his people and loved them and the people loved him".

Palestinian political figure Mustafa Barghouti said while no-one should gloat at his death, Mr Sharon had taken "a path of war and aggression" and had left "no good memories with Palestinians".

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama spoke of a leader "who dedicated his life to the State of Israel".

The BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen said he had shaped the current state of the West Bank and Israel's relations with the Palestinians more than any other Israeli politician in recent years.

Ariel Sharon fought in Israel's war of independence in 1948, and from that point until he slipped into a coma in 2006 it seemed there was hardly a moment of national drama in which he did not play a role, our correspondent says.

He became PM in 2001 and in 2005 completed a unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, months before suffering a massive stroke."

[Dave]

Are we ready?

Now Christ can come at any time!